Win, win, win, win, win

We’ve all heard of win-win situations – but now we’re seeing the rise of win-win-win situations.

The image this conjures up for me is of a Mexican standoff being resolved amicably, with everyone putting down their guns, learning an important lesson about life and sitting down together to share some cake.

In fact, the most recent ‘win-win-win’ I stumbled across was a retail manager quoted in a press release talking about new LED lights in his shop, which he said were cheaper to install, gave better quality light and used less electricity than the old ones. Win-win-win.

But hold on a sec – those three wins were all wins for him. Isn’t a win-win (and presumably by extension a win-win-win) supposed to involve one win each, for multiple parties? What happened to community spirit?

It’s no coincidence that win-win-win cropped up in a press release. It’s part of a positivity arms race in the world of PR, where everyone tries to sound more upbeat than the next guy. This is a world where nothing ever gets better – it only gets ‘even better’.